Authors:Author List

Ann R. Holmes

Ann Holmes, stained glass artist and quilter, has been producing site-specific stained glass since 1976. Public glass commissions include several churches and the skylight in the Lyon business building in Batesville, Arkansas. In Asheville, North Carolina, she designed and built windows for the Asheville Area Arts Council and the Grove Park Inn. In 1999, Ann became involved with the Asheville Quilt Guild and had a desire to recreate some of her original glass designs into fabric without the lead line look of stained glass quilts.

Ann prefers the look of a turned edge, so she applied what she learned from hand appliqué to include the background where every patch or piece in her designs is built using a glue stick to turn the edges instead of using needle and thread. In the early stages of developing her technique, she would build a small section of the top and then take it to the sewing machine to stitch. In 2005, foot surgery forced her to think of a new method to finish her project to meet the deadline for the Asheville Quilt Show. She asked herself, “Why am I sewing this twice, once for stitching the top and a second time for quilting?” No Sewing Until You Quilt It, Ann’s turned under appliqué technique, was the result.